Object Dar't

July 31, 2010

Ok..since this IS a blog on creativity, my first "How To" is a ceramics activity. I recently taught a class at the local ceramics shop using an inlay technique which is an EASY project. It will not overload anyone who has fears about not being very creative. Think of it as testing the waters with a toe!

You can purchase bisque pieces at local craft shops but for this activity, I suggest a local ceramics studio since they will have both the glazes AND kiln that you will need to fire your piece. Check your local listing for a Clay Painting studio!

July 28, 2010

I recently had the good fortune to stumble across an article "Creativity in Business" by retired Stanford Professor, Michael Ray. Since I regularly blog on creativity, this was a refreshing spin.

Generally, the world tends to define creativity as relating to arts or crafts but Professor Ray pro ports exactly what I have been saying (or vice versa since he's been on the scene a lot longer than I) all along. Every single person IS creative, and imagine my shock when I discovered that his mantra is, "You can live your life as a work of art". HELLO?!?! My blog is Object Dar't, a pun for my last name playing off the french term, object d'art which means "work of art". And my objective for my blog was specifically to touch upon ways that people can begin to see their lives as works of art and themselves as artists!

There's a wonderful quote by George Bernard Shaw that sums up my point, "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." There simply is no YOU to find. You are here to develop all the way from infancy forward and that doesn't stop simply because you hit some magical "adult" number. And while you develop through your life, you learn about who you are and you make progress toward being who you want to be. You are NOT here to eek out an existence working at some lifeless job that gives you a headache just thinking about and living pay check to pay check. Professor Ray's point was to do what you LOVE. This is the secret to be able to wake up in the morning HAPPY! Greeting each day with excitement is the litmus test for whether you are in fact living.

Another important point Professor Ray made in his article, was that there ARE people who are creative in business and that makes for their success. Cruise Fast Company's "100 Most Creative People in Business" list and it won't take you long before you understand that these people have a passion for what they do and it comes from a belief they have that they are not willing to compromise. In other words, they will take the risk for what they believe and don't care about the opinion of others. Their success (even monetary!) is simply a byproduct.

Of course that point is equally true in ANYTHING, not just business. So even if you aren't an entreprenuer or a company V.P., it doesn't matter.

I recall my college days when I was a waitress. My parents said the word "waitress" with a sneer. And I admit at first I wasn't proud of what I did. But it paid my bills while I put myself through school. Until one day I realized that I wasn't enjoying it. That's when something life changing happened. I "connected" with one of my customers. For a brief period of perhaps 30 minutes, I connected with a complete stranger in way that I both learned some new things and passed on some things I knew. It was an amazing exchange and the customer left me a $20 tip. In that moment, I GOT that my job as a waitress actually had a much higher purpose. I started to ask myself, "What if God put me here for a reason?"

I began to be willing to change my point of view which ultimately wound up changing my life. I began to see each customer who sat in my section as being my responsibility. If they came in unhappy (which you can't believe how many did!), then it was my mission to see that they left happy and laughing. All it would take was a joke or two and genuine concern for their well-being while they were in my care. Sometimes, my job was to hear what a customer was saying to me. God would speak to me through them sometimes so I made sure to listen. Oddly enough, my tips began to double and triple. I didn't set out for that to happen but it was just a natural byproduct. I gave double and triple of myself without expectation and the universe saw fit to compensate me further in what I was doing.

And when my parents would sneer that I was just a waitress, I would respond back, "Yes, but I'm the best waitress you've ever met and I make more money now than you do at the job you've worked for 13 years." In short, I was creative both in and about my job and that was what made me proud. It also defined in my own mind who I am as a human being and where I fit on this planet.

Whatever you are doing for work, try to change your point of view of that work. It isn't about whether your boss or coworkers are recognizing or appreciating you. Be brave enough to fall in love with what you do and allow yourself to become creative with it. Try to find the ways in which your unique talents can enhance either your job or work place. Then give double or triple of yourself. You'll find some astounding results on the other side of it.

July 23, 2010

recently, Newsweek carried an article on "The Creativity Crisis" grazed over why creativity is important and how it is in serious decline. i started this blog in an effort to help others not only begin to accept their creativity but to try to foster it. while the world at large prefers to see us "artistic folks" as off-the-beaten path types, so much of our world would not be as it is without the us. Thomas Edison, the father and founder of almost EVERYTHING we are now (because let's face it..without electricity what in your world would work?) was a creative genius said to have severe A.D.D.

while the article was ground breaking in several ways, including citing Torrance’s test which measures a creativity quotient in others and a scientific breakdown of brain activity during the creative process, it also revealed proof of what i've been saying which is that everyone has the ability to be creative. further more, it was concrete about the important roles creative people play in our world. "What’s shocking is how incredibly well Torrance’s creativity index predicted those kids’ creative accomplishments as adults. Those who came up with more good ideas on Torrance’s tasks grew up to be entrepreneurs, inventors, college presidents, authors, doctors, diplomats, and software developers."

the problem of course lay in the fact that culturally we beat the creativity out of everyone. the article argues that 'standards-obsessed schools' train children to stop questioning and simply memorize. while i agree with this point of view, i believe that the article was remiss in accurately identifying where the problem actually lay.

to supposed that public school curriculum is the reason American creativity is tanking is like saying the titanic hit a chunk of ice. no my friends, that was an iceberg just like the one that is sinking the pioneering spirit of America. across the board, socially and culturally, everything possible is done to ensure that every American follows along like a good lemming.

stop unnecessarily medicating children and adults with highly creative personalities (ADD, etc)! i mean this RESPONSIBLY so please don't think i am pro porting that everyone should stop taking their meds. there ARE children and adults with real disorders that absolutely could not function without medication but like so many things in our culture - we are definitely overdoing drugs of every kind. if your child is a bit unruly in school or has trouble, then why not invest the time to training him/her how to focus and settle down naturally? nothing good can come from a society full of people who have depressed their creativity and uniqueness all their lives!

PLUG BACK INTO LIFE
stop watching other people have "interesting" lives on TV and start having one of your own. for people with children, this is ESPECIALLY important! the brain enters the alpha wave state (the definition of comatose!) when watching television and you are literally training your child's brain to exist in this condition. moreover, it's just not healthy for any brain to spend so much time inactive! if you can't kill your TV then figure out how to restrict it to a healthy, one or two programs a week. you'll be amazed at how much living you do and how much you can pack into a day when you aren't "plugged" in.

MAKE UP YOUR OWN MIND
turn away from the media. they're the worst culprits of spoon feeding people their reality which is solely about whatever agenda they have. watch from a safe distance and make up your own mind. i don't watch the news or read the paper. i can't handle the negativity or the lack of objectivity of it all. i get all my info from "water cooler" conversations with friends and FB updates. then i start asking questions so that i can make up my own mind. unfortunately, the media is not interactive like that. u don't get to question. u just get whatever they've plunked in your lap and by the next commercial your brain has accepted what was said and moved on. so just say "NO" to traditional media.

PARENTS, JUST SAY "NO" TO VIDEO
games, that is. this is the number one, most influential item on this list. it has no future for your kids. you can't get a Master's Degree in Pacman no matter how badly your kid might want one. so do yourself a favor, don't let your kids invest valuable time and brain energy on a dead end street.

TURN THE MUNDANE INTO A GAME
whenever we go for a ride in the car that is sure to last more than 30 minutes, i play a game with my kids. we make up stories on the fly. interesting, colorful, sometimes gory stories that stick in their little brains. or one of us will make up a sentence and then everyone has to take a turn to add onto that sentence thus making up a "story on the fly". not only am i inserting creativity into the lives of my children, but you can't imagine how excited we all get and spend the time laughing together.

NEVER STOP ASKING QUESTIONS
questioning is like digging. digging is the thing that has uncovered everything from diamonds in the earths crust to King Tut's tomb and the Terracotta Army! now imagine all the amazing things you've never uncovered simply because you didn't "dig." be an explorer. ask questions about everything and be prepared to be amazed at what you uncover. if you have children, absolutely and unequivocally encourage them to question everything even if it does drive you insane. if you don't have an answer to something, turn it back around on them and tell them to go find out. you have the internet and your local library where you will find the answer to just about every question under the sun.

so please, do your part in the battle against the creativity crisis. you'll be glad you did.

July 21, 2010

if you have ever said "i wish i could do that" and you really meant it, then we need to talk. i can't tell you how many times i hear people say, "i wish I could do that" or "i wish i were artistic." and while it's horribly cliché, my response is always, "but you are!" and you really ARE an artist! i don't say that because i'm trying to be nice. i'm saying it because it's honestly TRUE. every single person reading this article IS an artist.

i know you just laughed or scoffed. don't do that. that's the nasty, self-deprecating critic in you and that critic doesn't want you to break the boundaries of your life to tread into uncharted territory. but the god's honest truth (literally) is that each of you posses your own individual style and natural ability in a medium that is unique to you. i can paint but i can't sew to save my life. some of you may sew beautiful quilts or clothes but can't connect with a paintbrush. so the first thing you must do is to thinking honestly about the things you do well.

if you really want to be creative, then you will have to commit yourself to ignoring your own fragile ego and allow yourself to BE artistic. in short, you have to be BRAVE. so stop "stuffing" your artist way down in there and start accepting yourself as a creative being.

also a word of warning here; do not repeat what the critic in your head says. every time you say something negative that intimates that you are not creative, you literally make it true in your life. so just don't say it!

where to start to become more artistic:

absolute audacity: i once read "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron and she said something so profound that it literally changed me. Julia wrote, “Very often audacity, not talent makes one person an artist and another a shadow artist – hiding in the shadows, afraid to step out and expose the dream to the light, fearful that it will disintegrate to the touch.”

have the audacity to not only consider yourself an artist but CALL yourself an artist! note: if you are unfamiliar with the book, consider picking up a copy. you will find an amazon link to the left on my blog.

anti-clutter: creativity can often become crowded out of your brain and heart by all the "stuff" in your life. clutter can include too much noise, too much physical clutter around you or even too much mental clutter in your brain. dedicate some uncluttered space in your home/office/rv/whatever solely for the purpose of being your studio.

make sure it is an area that you can be in with little or no distraction. then do whatever you have to do to clear your mind. some people journal, some people talk out all the junk in their head with friends or spouses. whatever you have to do to clear out the mind garbage that day - DO IT. in short, the anti-clutter approach has to be a way of life for you every single day in every single way. it's a way of keeping sacred this creative self of yours.

be open to receive: start to watch what things inspire you. it's key that you get to know the artist within you! do you walk through a fabric store and see a swatch that just makes you coo? did you drive by the lake and see that it looked exceptionally beautiful? did you come across some photograph on the net that you just HAD to take a second look at?

often these things make impressions upon us and we are stirred creatively as a result. look for them and let them give you ideas! think about how you can use what you saw within the context of your medium. maybe that image in your head of the lake becomes an idea for a beautiful quilt you could make.

take it and run: now comes the important part. you have to take the inspiration you receive and run with it. there's no way around the fact that you just have to be brave enough to go out on a limb and try. and it has to be OK if your end product isn't good enough for you. it doesn't matter and life has already taught you that you won't die from falling off the proverbial bike.

simply remain committed to trying again. and again. and again. and before you know it, your skill level will increase naturally and you really WILL be creating things that even the critic in your brain will like! so what's stopping you? go do it. now!

July 18, 2010

ok..i admit i'm something of an over-achiever. i signed up to take a 31-day blogger challenge with SITS starting on the 19th but i "cheated" and started 2 days early. that's what happens when someone with A.D.D gets the workbook in advance! i stayed up until 1am and familiarized myself with the first 3 challenges. and the strangest thing happened along the way to the proverbial forum!

my tween daughter was coming to kiss me goodnight and inquired about what i was reading. which sparked something utterly divine. it began a conversation between us that inspired us both. what unfold was the decision by my daughter to start her own blog! in our conversation, she began to realize that she really has something important and valuable to share with other young girls. Especially those with A.D.D. who are experiencing similar difficulties navigating their way through both puberty and A.D.D. you can't imagine how shocked i was and am!and proud!

whatever is to come of it doesn't matter much to me. what is important is that this strange turn of events may be her divine purpose gently unfolding. with internet safety in mind, we've decided that we'll make a blog for her today and together take the Blogger Challenge. as i sit on the edge of this event, i can see so many benefits to my tween having a blog:

it's a perfect way for her to develop her writing skills without it having to be a burden like homework

it will provide her with a consistent creative outlet which A.D.D. children desperately need

it will give her the feeling that she is adding something to the world at a time when she still feels so small and insignificant

it will serve as a sort of diary which can later provide insight into her own person and life

it's an EXCELLENT way for her to get objective feedback from followers that she wouldn't ordinarily get in real life

it's a safe way to explore who she is, what she really believes and what she is capable of doing well.

it's a self-esteem booster especially for an A.D.D. kid whose life is mostly filled with constant corrections (behavioral or otherwise!)

so to all you blogging mom's out there with A.D.D. tweens and a bit of time on your hands (to be able to monitor ANd guide!), consider taking your tween under your blogging wing to see if they can fly! in fact, why not consider taking a blogger challenge with them?

July 17, 2010

i have been diagnosed with A.D.D. and so has my daughter. when my daughter was initially diagnosed, i remember being guilt-tripped by her pediatrician for not informing her of the diagnosis. according to the pediatrician, my daughter was going to be prone to depression, have suicidal thoughts her whole life and basically have a wretched existence. what a terrible thing to tell a mother but thank God i have an "ADD mind of my own".

truth be told, i did put her on medication for a time "just to make sure." but i took her off because i just honestly can't see it as a "deficit!" i think the deficit label has actually more to do with society's disappointment that you aren't more like them and that you don't fit in the little box they've reserved for you. i survived my whole life without the diagnosis or the medication. so why can't she? and you know, she was even smart enough to ask me to take her off it. she didn't like the way it made her feel!

i won't say that there weren't (or still aren't) times when i had wished to God that i could be a little more mainstream so that i didn't stick out like such a sore thumb. but i think that was my parents doing. they were always accusing me of trying to be different and encouraging me to "blend in" as if I was embarrassing them. after eons of unsuccessful attempts, i just decided to be me and instinctively tried to minimize my weaknesses and maximize my strengths. perhaps in the same way that a person's hearing is acute when they have no sight. and it worked! i'm proud of who i am. i'm a really GOOD person, highly creative, energetic and i've become amazingly self-sufficient! i'm hoping my daughter will too and i suspect she's on her way. i told her the other day that she looked a little freaky with the hairdo she'd come up with. she just shrugged and said, "well, you taught me not to care what other people think and i like it." LOL! good point girlfriend and touche for you!! so i closed my mouth and let her tromp on.

and so, when it comes to my daughter, now 11 years old, i am renewing my dedication as her mother to guide, train and help her harness all that beautiful A.D.D. for good use in her life to come. oh, she's going to get knocked around just like the rest of us. and she's going to annoy some people just like i did/do. hell, she even annoys me but then i annoy her too! hahahah but she'll be ok and i think she absolutely is strong enough to adapt without the aid of psychotropic, mind-numbing drugs that turn her into a ghost of a child. what kind of life is that? a life half felt is no life at all and i didn't bring her into this world so she could live just half a life.

happy birthday baby..here's to 11 years of a crazy ride on the planet with you! let's go get 'em shall we? ;)

July 16, 2010

i'm excited! i'm in this chrysalis phase and it's really intense. i've made some major life changes and i'm making some daring choices and i'm commiting myself to some things i'd only dreamed of before. some people might say i'm being reckless, i think i'm just being fearless. first i dared to declare myself an artist. and now i'm committing to taking some sort of blogger challenge. it's laughable!! but my intention is to create a great blog as a work of art just the same as i do any doodle, drawing or painting. probably some people are taking the challenge to grow their blog into a "success." truthfully, i'm not doing it to successful but i am trying to succeed at it. i want to do what i was born to do (whatever God created me to do!) and do it well. i want to continue to be inspired AND BE inspiring. so if there's only 1 person following my blog but they're feeling inspiration and gaining something from my work - and bounce it back - than that to me would feel like success! i admit though that i find it a little confusing that culturally success seems to equate to money and popularity. i have neither of those things right now. lol and yet i'm still standing and i'm still happy! maybe i'm supposed to feel badly about myself because i have neither of those? so i'm left wondering..what if the cultural definition of success is way off base? what is succcess really? maybe you can tell me your definition of success and if you've acheived it?

July 14, 2010

i admit that i've not been terribly comfortable with the title of "artist." i've been seeing myself in a sort of process to that point. in other words, trying to practice and train to call myself "artist" in the same way an athlete trains in order to become an "olympian." but someone asked me, "what is an artist?" and i began to ponder. is it an elite group that the masses have defined as "masters?" it can't be..there've been too many artists throughout the history of man (including cavemen who drew animals on cave walls!) for there to only be a handful of artists. is it really something you train to be or is it just something you are born as? so i started to break down what qualities are common to artistic people. i know that most times, i feel similar to a pocket translator. i receive creative energy (a.k.a. messages) all the time. i may receive the inspiration to do something new or draw something or maybe even just to SAY something. then, once the inspiration is received, my soul goes about trying to transmit and convey it to others. to put it out there. and in comparing myself to others, i can see that the other artists i know are really doing just about the same thing. maybe they don't recognize it but it is actually happening that way for them. so then an artist is really just a pocket translator and maybe my whole idea of working and practicing to BECOME an artist is really misguided. i mean a calculator can't work or practice to become a pocket translator - it just is what it is. so maybe i'm an artist after all. who'da thunk?

July 13, 2010

for me this is a tough transitional time in my life. i've made some decisions which have impacted my whole life (and the lives of my children). i HOPE these decisions were good and sound but then we never seem to know in advance. i know i have great hope and good intentions but then who doesn't? i'm doing a circle journal with the theme of overcoming challenges and decided why not use my blogging to explore the topic further. if you see this and read it, i hope you'll be brave enough to leave me a comment that explores what challenges you've overcome. i could use some inspiration!

July 12, 2010

i have been thinking about organizing an artists cooperative in my town. in researching artist cooperatives, i came across a site for an artists' guild in the next town over WHICH by some odd chance happens to have my elementary art teacher as a member who professionally paints watercolor scenes and sells the giclees. hmmph. i was faced with one of my usual adolss (attention deficit oh look something shiny) impulses and decided to send her an email. you know, the usual i just loved you as a kid thing and are you well blah blah. the woman is 74 years old and i have renewed my vow now to be just like her when i grow up! hahahah she said she'd stopped teaching after proposition 2 1/2 and it made me laugh because she was always the kind of woman who did things on her terms. i think men would refer to her as a "difficult woman". me, i just thought she was cool as hell. she asked me about the artists cooperative and so we exchanged an email or two. the next day, a most peculiar thing happened. one of my elementary school friends posted a message onto an FB photo of one of my paintings. she said she has always wanted to take a watercolor class. hmmph again. i don't believe in coincidences so i emailed my art teacher and asked if she'd be interested in doing a watercolor workshop in my studio. and she wrote back yes. and now there are 3 people who want to take the workshop. and it just occured to me in writing all the "back n forths" that OMG i'm an art pimp for gawd's sake!

July 11, 2010

a few weeks ago, my neighbor Jane began planting her garden. and it reminded me of that nursery rhythm “how does your garden grow?” i jotted it down on paper and played with the font style but then my relationship with it sort of ended so I put it aside. Then the other day, Jane, was in her little patch-o-produce watering and plucking weeds when we were coming home from swimming. of course i had to stop and chat. what was unexpected was that my close-up view revealed that her garden had developed! and honestly it was just lovely. i admit i have a “thing” for nature and especially the symmetry of farm crops but that little garden just stirred something in it. so i came home and knew that my relationship with “how does your garden grow” was back on again. i pulled it out and suddenly there was a fence and corn and the words because plants with roots. it felt so gooooooood when it was done because i get a lot of satisfaction when i feel that i’ve completed a relationship with one of my pieces. i’m proud of the fact that i can be patient and wait for the rest of a sketch to be revealed and i’m even prouder that my connection to the creative source is so strong and efficient that i can allow such a process to happen! it’s gooooooooood (from Bruce Almighty). Anyway..it’s again not anything professional but it’s definitely a respectable practice piece. i admit though; i’m really looking forward to the day when i know that my skill and creativity were at optimal! hahahah

i admit i’m being challenged right now. it’s summer vacation and my kids are really cutting into my creative time. it’s so bad that i’m existing through my days in blocks. there are the “to do” blocks which i must overcome and tend to before i can get to what i am DYING to do – which is paint or draw. in a nutshell, it can’t be healthy. i imagine that drug addicts, alcoholics and every other person with a monkey on their back experience this feeling as well. and none of those people are healthy. so logically, this can’t be healthy either but i don’t have the power to turn it off. so i’ve been trying to inject creativity into all those blocks. of course there is a certain amount of socializing that has to be done during the summer when you have children. so i’ve been planning activities with others that will inspire me creatively. for instance, i’ve planned a trip to martha’s vineyard. great vacation spot for kids because the beach is there and it’s a getaway blah blah. but i’ve planned it around a calendar of events that will be happening on the island like art expos and gallery shows! i plan on bringing along my camera and my sketchbook to capture inspirations as they come. i’ve also started doing test runs for annual family traditions i’ve wanted to create. this year, the last day of school was renamed (by me of course), “dar day” and i invited a few of my daughters school mates. We did a treasure hunt (with leftover easter eggs from a neighbor), a water-balloon war, had tug-of-war and a sprinkler installed on top of the trampoline for some unusual fun. i intend that every year until my kids are grown, we will have dar day. and i feel good about being creative with the event and coming up with cool ideas. so think about how you can do the mundane things just a little differently than everyone else and hopefully you will feed your creative spirit. i know i’m trying!

so i’ve just finished another painting using the fragmentation. i had a sketch of a farm in my studio and i hadn’t figured it all out so i finished it using the frag technique. i love the blend of colors and i’m relatively satisfied with the end product but….

…i’m left with the feeling of “now what?” i hate that. there is no project on deck and since it’s summer and i have kids – maybe god is trying to tell me to focus again on living creatively rather than creating another project. honestly, i hate the almost "post-partum-depression-like" feeling i have after finishing a project.

i’m not exactly sure how i came about this but i had been drawing trees with swirls by a river. i just really didn’t feel inspired by my straight-forward approach to painting/drawing water. paint it all blue and add shading is just too blah for me. and then i saw a photo of the IMAX whale movie at the Boston Science Museum and the photo was so small that i noticed how the water seemed more like ripples or waves. just bigger and longer! like maybe the way you would illustrate radio waves actually. and that was just what i needed to see. like a pinball after it’s been struck by the plunger, i was off. i had my trees and now my lake..but again paused with the sky. well, air contain water so why not use the same approach for the sky as i used for the water.

i won’t say i’m 100% thrilled with the result. i wouldn’t call it a fine work of art – it’s not. And at this point I'm not shooting for fine works of art because it's all practice. it’s IMO simply good doodling. but it’s an interesting approach to air and water that i intend on exploring further. how complicated can it get? and the funny thing is that through a friend, i received a suggestion to be a Facebook friend with an artist named aaron thornton. when i saw his profile pic, i understood. he’s doing a similar thing with the overall picture – he’s carving it up into segments (with color) and laying within the subject. (see for yourself…www.aaronthorntonart.com)

today was the 2nd day of summer and thus i had to play “activities director” for the kids. luckily, my friend beth wanted to come visit with her 4 kids and we trotted the whole entourage down to the just clayin’ around studio in town. i find these types of places – where i can be creative too instead of just a monitor – a lot more rewarding for all of us since it allows me to get out my inner energy too. while the kids painted whatever bisque piece they had chosen, i asked the owner if i could play with her clay and instinctively began making a coil pot. i’m dying of curiosity to know whether the pot will hold together through firing. and while coil pottery may not have the finesse of smooth bisque and the high style of a molded piece, i honestly appreciate the more organic natural form the pots take on. that is provided they’re decorated and not just a plain looking coil pot. while i wasn’t over the moon with what i had created, i do believe that i feel a clay obsession coming on! could it be that all my unfinished drawings will sit and collect dust like the furniture in my garage? aaaagh!